Spring-wheel.



J. E STANNARD.

SPRING WHEEL. AYPLIOATION FILED we. 19, '1907.

- 901,751 Patented Oct. 20, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wmvEsss INVENTOR A TTORNE YS I. E. STANNARD.

SPRING WHEEL. APPLICATION rum) we. 19, 1901.

Patented 00.11.20, 1908. l

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ATTORNEYS To all ,NLOWL it may concern:

, a-citizen of the United States of America,

I uncertainty attending the use of the pneuof becomes broken or otherwise injured;

.- ticable and eflicient.

throughout the several views.

the hub, rim, and two of the springs,,show- -each of these two views, moreover, one'of i," one of the springsshown therein,- or to as a UNITED MT F E JOHN E. sTAN ARnoF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF 'ro FRANCIS J. MILLEA, OF SPRINGFIELD. MASSACHUSETTS.

SPRING WHEEL.

Bc itiknown that I, JOHN E. STANNARD,

residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Spring-Wheel, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in vehicle .wheels designed for use without pneumatic tires,'fin which heart-shaped springs are employed in lieu of spokes, as hereinafter set forth? The objects of my invention are, first, to produce a wheel which possesses inherently most if not all of the characteristics which a pneumatic tire imparts to a wheel. of rdinary construction, wherebysthe expense and matic tire are eliminated; second, to provide a wheel of this kind which can be readily repaired in the event that some part therethird, to provide a spring wheel which, while being simple in construction and easy to assemble and take apart, is strong and durable without being cumbersome or unduly heavy and is withal eminently prac I attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which t Figure l is a side elevation of one form on my wheel; Fig. 2, a cross-section through ing clearly how the latter are united with the two former; Figs. 3 and 4, side elevations of portions of two wheelsequipped with butters which differ slightly from each other, structurally; Fig. 5, a side, elevat on, of a wheel made up with twb sets] of heartshaped springs, anddl ig 6, a cross-section, similar to Fig. 2, of the Fig. 5 wheel.

In Figs. 1 and 5 some of the heart-shaped springs are omitted, but provision is made for those which are missing, so that no difficulty will be experienced in understanding how the complete wheel will appear. In

the end plates used to confine the apex of.

sist in confining it, is omitted in order to better illustrate the construction.

Similar figures refer to similar parts The spring whichI employ .in the place t of spokes for the purpose of Obtflllidlg a Specification of Iietters'Patent. Application filed August 19, 1907. Serial No. 389,144.

"si-liency.

Patented 0ct.320, 1908.

to any stress or strain and as readily recover itself, in short, which most nearly approaches in theresults obtained those duced by the pneumatic tire, is in;the orm or shape of a heart, sincethis is believed to be the best'ii not the only kind of a spring which will yield" and return to normal condition to the best advantage in the numerous and particular directions required in a spring wheel. This heart-shaped spring may be rectangular orof any other suitable shape in cross-section, and is open at its indented end to receive a projecting member from the felly or rim of the wheel, to which such end is securely fastened. The apex of said spring is fastened securely to the hub of the wheel, preferably by one of the two methods herein shown. Thus it will be observed that, generally speaking, my invention comprises, primarily, the peculiar spring, and, secondarily, the means by which such spring is retained in position or by which it is. incorporated in the wheel.

Fora light wheel, such as that illustrated in the first two views, a single set of heart- -shaped springs 10 is employed, while for a vergent. In either case the wheel possesses.

the necessary amount of flexibility and re- The wheel shown in Figs. 1 and 2 consists, in addition t-othe heart-shaped springs ,lO, of a hub 11 of any suitable and ordinary construction except that it has in this caseperipheral recesses or seats 12 for the apexes of said springs 10 and' end recesses 13 for plates 14 presently to be escribed, a'rim 15. oi either wood or metal provided with interior rods 16 which are radial to the axis of the Wheel and to which the separated ends of the springs are attached, and a solid rubber tire 17. The rods 16 may be screwed into the rim 15, if it be of metal, in the usual manner, as shown at 18 in Figs. 2 andfi, or they may be secured to the rim by means of ordinary spoke plates, if said rim be of. wood, one such plate appearing at v19 in Fig. 3. H There is a pair of plates 14 for each spring 10, in the above-described wheel, and such plates are received into two of the opwheel construction which will yield readily positely disposed recesses 13 and project beyond the peripheryof the hub 11 both sides of the apex 0 the associated spring. Each plate 14 is provided with a tongue 20, at its projectin terminal, which engages the apex of sai spring and so assists" in retaining the apex in place in the associated seat 12. The tongues of each pair of plates may be tapered on their inner faces, as best shown in Fig. 2, for the purpose of drawing the apex of the spring onto lorinto its seat when said plates are secured in position,'andeach of such tongues extends half way across the apex so that the two tongues meet in the center thereof, although they might be shorter so as not to meet, without its makin any essential difference. Each pair of p ates is fastened to the hub by means of bolts 21 passing through holes in the plates and through holes 22 in said hub, and by nuts 23 on said bolts.

The severed ends of each spring 10 are secured to opposite sides of the associated rod 16 .either by means of a bolt 24 passing through the spring terminals and through the rod, with a nut 25 on the threaded end of such bolt, as indicated in the first four views, or by means of a band or clip 26, shown in the last two views, slipped on over such terminals and the rod and fastened in any suitable manner, or simply forced on to the same with a driving fit. The Wheel thus made up with asingle set of heartshaped springs is entirely adequate for light work, but its power of resistance may be increased, so that it is capable of withstanding a more severe shock and of sustaining a greater load without injury to itself than would otherwise be possible, by adding a buffer to the construction, such buffer being in the form of an auxiliary spring or of a cushion, either of which constitutes a medium adapted to yieldingly receive andabsorb, as it were, any unusual shock and to take care of or support any excessive load.

The spring buffer is shown in Fig. 3, and the cushion buffer in Fig. 4, and these will next be described in the order mentioned. In the first instance, a post 27, provided with a flange 28 at the end adjacent to the hub 11, is rigidly attached to each pair of plates 14 or to one of .the plate tongues, in

any suitable manner, a post 29, providedwith a flange 30, is formed on the corresponding rod 16 inside of the attached spring 10, said flange 30 being immediately adjacent to the severed ends of said spring, and an auxiliary or buffer spring 31 isvcarried by said posts between said flanges, the spring 31 being fastened generally at one end to one of the'supporting members therefor at that end, to prevent said spring from rattling. In the drawing the spring 31 is represented as being fastened to the post 29. This buffer spring is usually shorter than the normal distance between theflanges 28 and 30.and does not exert any influence on the wheel except when the latter is heavily loaded or in case it is subjected -10 a severe shock; at such a time the auxiliar'y'spring is brought into action, by first being actuated into contact with the flange 28 and then con}- pressed, to relieve the inclosing heart-shaped" spring and prevent the same from being broken or unduly strained. As soon as the normal conditions are restored or the exciting cause is. removed the resilient members resume their former relative positions. In the second instance, a buffer cushion 32, of rubber or other suitable material, is attached by any convenient method between each pair of plates 14 over or outside of their tongues,

than in the other casesand provided with an enlarged part or head 33 at its inner end. While normal conditions prevail the head 33 is out of contact with the cushion 32, but in the event of abnormal conditions occurring, such as already have been suggested, said head is forced-into contact with said cushion, and the latter being of yielding material lessens the impact or supports the load with and the corresponding rod 16 is made longer 1 some degree of resiliency, whichever may be described, but prefer to provide a tongue on the hub and a tongueless plate for the apex of each spring. The springs are generally arranged so that those on one side of the.

wheel set by or overlap those on the other side, as shown. An increased number of rods 16 is required, of course, and they are -set with reference to the axis of the hub at angles corresponding to the angles of the attached springs. This hub, 34;, has recesses or seats 35 in both ends, alternately arranged, for the apexes of the springs .10, and are provided with tongues 36 on which said apexes are anchored. A plate 37 is bolted at 38 against the end of the hub 34: to hold each spring apex in place on its seat 35 and inside of its tongue 36, such plate being large enough to project over and beyond the adjacent edge of that portion of the apex which is engaged by said tongue, In this matter a much stronger and more durable wheel than that herein first described is produced, although the two wheels do not greatly differ from each other in the essential features of their construction. End rewhich confines it, on the other hand, and

- means to fasten the severed terr disconnect said spring from its rod 16, hence it is obvious that repalrs can be made without taking down more of the wheel than is involved in the injury.

lVhen not under compression, except such as'is necessary to give them their shape, and

. even wl'ic'n-under a certain amount of compression, the springs 10 should not touch each other nor should they touch the rim of the wheel.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

. 1. A spring wheel comprising a hub, a rim provided with inwardly projecting members, a plurality of independent heart-shaped springs closed at their apexes and severed at their indented ends to receive StlCll l1Il 'wardly projecting members between them,

means to attach such apexes to said hub, and als to said inwardly projecting members.

2. The combination, in a wheel, of a hub, a rim provided with radialrods, a plurality of heart-shaped springs having closed apexes and inturncd terminals to bear against said rods, means comprising tongues and plates to fasten said apexes to said hub, and means to fasten said inturned terminals at the in dented ends of said springs to said rods.

3. The combination, in a wheel, of a plurality of independent l'ieartshaped springs closed at their apexes, a hub having peripheral recesses or seats for such apexes, a rim provided with radial rods entering between the inturned terminals of the springs, means comprising tongues and plates to fasten said apexes in such seats, and means to fasten said 'inturned terminals at the indented ends of said springs to said rods.

t. The combination, in a wheel, of a hub,

a rim, a plurality of independent heartshaped springs closed at their apexes, means to fasten said apexes to such hub, means to connect the indented ends of said springs with said rim, and buffers carried by the aforesaid fastening and connecting means for said springs, located between the apexes and the indented ends of the springs, and so arranged as to be brought into active service only when the heart-shaped springs are so abnormally disposed as to cause their ends to be brought within a predetermined distance of each other which is less than any normal distance between such ends.

JOHN E. STANNARD. \Vitnesses S. S. TAFT. F. A. CUTTER. 

